Heritage Walk from Rambagh Garden to Rambagh Gate on 24th February 2018

A Heritage walk was conducted by Mrs. Gurmeet Rai (accompanied by Ritika Kapoor and Sindhu Sivakami) as a part of CRCI and Creative Interruptions initiative in association with Sahapedia and Yes Global Institute, Yes Bank as a part of their month long India Heritage Walk Festival.

About the Partner Organisations:

Sahapedia is an open online resource on the arts, cultures and heritage of India. “Saha”, Sanskrit for “together with”, is an invitation to explore together the richness of our cultural landscapes.

https://www .sahapedia.org

Yes Global Institute: the practicing think–tank at YES Bank has been established to focus on

actualising India’s sustainable and inclusive socio-economic growth and development through

research and financing in emerging sunrise sectors.

http://yesinstitute.in/

There were about 10 residents of Amritsar who participated in the walk along with, Ms. Shweta from Sahapedia to cover the Walk. All the participants came from different walks of life, say one of them runs a NGO, another works with the Horticulture department, another runs a cycle tour organisation in the city called City on Pedals and likewise; who out of curiosity of knowing their city better, came and joined the walk.

This route was particularly chosen because of its association with Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s time as this was the route which the Maharaja took on his way to Darbar Sahib passing through Rambagh Gate, the only surviving gate built in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s tenure.

The sites covered during the walk were: Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama, Western Deori of the Rambagh Garden, the Summer Palace within the garden, the Southern Deori of the garden, Shaheedi Bohr, Rambagh Gate, Municipal Press on the ramparts of the walled city, the Municipal school on the ramparts built during the colonial period and the remnants of the colonial-period wall of the city. The walk concluded at Rambagh Bazaar with some pickle tasting session with the participants. During the walk, most of the HRIDAY sites along the trail were covered with an intent of creating public awareness on the ongoing works in their city.

The walk concluded on a happy note with participants sharing their views on how they had little knowledge of the history of their own city and how coming for the walk has made an impact on their perspectives of the city. They further, thanked the walk leader for such an informative walk.

Photographs from the walk

Fig 1: Group photograph at the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama

Fig 2: Meet and greet before commencing of the walk at the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama

Fig 3: Walk leader, Mrs. Rai talking about the historic narrative of the Sikh period at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama

Fig 4: Discussion at Western Deori. The walk leader explaining the conservation works which were carried out

Fig 5: Discussion outside the Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Fig 6: Discussion inside the Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Fig 7: Group on its way to the Southern Deori, led by Mrs. Rai

Fig 8: In conversation with the ASI personnel at the Southern Deori of Rambagh Palace

Fig 9: At Namdhaari Shaheedi Samarak, Babaji narrating the painful story of the Bohr and the tree